Complementary and alternative medicine use in breast cancer patients in Europe

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has gained popularity among cancer patients in the past years. For this study, CAM includes any group of health care systems, practices or products that are not considered to be part of conventional medicine at present (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine). The present study assessed patterns of CAM use in breast cancer patients in Europe. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional design, and data were collected through a 27-item questionnaire. The sample, which was part of a larger study, consisted of 282 breast cancer patients from 11 countries in Europe. Among participants, 44.7% used CAM since their diagnosis of cancer. The most common therapies used included herbal medicine (46.4%) and medicinal teas, relaxation techniques, spiritual therapies, homeopathy and vitamins/minerals. Younger patients with higher education and who had received combination treatments for their cancer in the past were more likely to use CAM. High levels of satisfaction were reported, with only 6.5% of the women reporting no benefits from the CAM used. Main sources of information about CAM were mostly friends/family and the media. Findings suggested that a high proportion of breast cancer patients used CAM, which may have implications for the clinical management of these patients.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine use and Its Association with Quality of Life Among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy in Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

“…The prevalence of CAM use reported in our study (79%) is much higher compared to the survey conducted in more than 10 countries of Europe which reported a prevalence of 44.7% [23]. However, our finding is comparable with studies conducted in Malaysia, Canada, and Korea (62.5%, 71.2%, and 74.8%, resp.)…”

Substitutes or complements? Diagnosis and treatment with non-conventional and conventional medicine

“…An overview of the results presented by this European research shows that there is a tendency to find common factors explaining the use of CAM; users are more likely to be women, middle aged, well-educated and from higher income brackets and suffering chronic conditions. Nevertheless, no work was found studying the relationship between CAM and WM in general, despite work having been done looking at the relationship for specific conditions such as cancer (52,53) and HIV (54). Our work tries to fill a gap in the research regarding the use of CAM in Southern European countries.…”

Soins palliatifs: peut-on parler de qualité de vie en phase métastatique?

“…Ce sont le plus souvent des plantes, des thés médicinaux, des techniques de relaxation, l'homéopathie… Elles ont recours à ces traitements pour augmenter le bien-être physique et émotionnel, avec un indice de satisfaction élevé, même s'il n'existe pas d'étude permettant clairement leur évaluation (29).…”